FACT FILE

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Alfred Hitchcock the Master of Suspense has made some of the best movies in the thriller genre. Outstanding among these was Psycho the biggest commercial success of his career. It was a black and white movie which Hitchcock funded. Hitchcock did most of the promotion for the movie on his own and forbade Janet Leigh and Antony Perkins, the lead pair from interviews for print, television or radio out of fear of their revealing the plot. He also used to buy up all the Psycho novels by Robert Bloch in places where the movie was released, in order to keep the end of the movie a secret. He also insisted that theatre owners let no one inside once the movie had commenced. He wanted the audience to enjoy the whole movie. A lobby card read, “We won’t allow you to cheat yourself. You must see Psycho from the very beginning. Therefore do not expect to be admitted into the theatre after the start of each performance of the picture. We say no one – and we mean no one – not even the manager’s brother, the President of the United States or the Queen of England (God bless Her!)”.